Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy:Keywords, Model Questions, Instructional Strategies

Activity / Verbs for Objectives (Keywords) / Model Questions / Instructional Strategies
Remember
Draw out factual answers; test recall and recognition / Choose describe
Define identify
Label list
Locate match
Memorize name
Omit recite
Recognize select
state /
  • Who?
  • Where?
  • Which one?
  • What?
  • How?
  • What is the best one?
  • Why?
  • How much?
  • When?
  • What does it mean?
/
  • Highlighting
  • Rehearsal
  • Memorizing
  • Mnemonics (word, idea, or picture associations)

Understand
Translating, interpreting, and extrapolating / Classify defend
Demonstrate distinguish
Explain express
Extend give examples
Illustrate indicate
Interrelate interpret
Infer judge
Match paraphrase
Represent restate
Rewrite select
Show summarize
Tell translate /
  • State in your own words
  • Which are the facts?
  • What does this mean?
  • Is this the same as..?
  • Give an example
  • Select the best definition
  • Condense this paragraph
  • What would happen if…?
  • State in one word…
  • Explain what is happening
  • What part doesn’t fit?
  • Explain what is meant by…?
  • What expectations are there?
  • Read the graph (table)
  • What are they saying?
  • This represents…
  • What seems to be…?
  • Is it valid that…?
  • What seems likely?
  • Show in a graph/table
  • Which statements support…?
  • What restrictions would you add?
/
  • Key examples
  • Emphasize connections
  • Elaborate concepts
  • Summarize
  • Paraphrase
  • STUDENTS explain
  • STUDENTS state the rule
  • Why does this example..?
  • Create visual representations (concept maps, outlines, flow charts, organizers, analogies, pro/con grids)
  • Make educated guesses

Apply
Knowing when to apply; why to apply, and recognizing patterns of transfer to situations that are new, unfamiliar, or have a new slant for students / Apply choose
Dramatize explain
Generalize judge
Organize paint
Prepare produce
Select show
Sketch solve
use /
  • Predict what would happen if...
  • Choose the best statements that apply
  • Judge the effects
  • What would result
  • Tell what would happen
  • Tell how, when, where, why
  • Tell how much change there would be
  • Identify the results of
/
  • Modeling
  • Part and whole sequencing
  • Authentic situations
  • “Coached practice”
  • Case studies
  • Simulations

Analyze
Breaking down into parts / Analyze categorize
Classify compare
Differentiate distinguish
Identify infer
Point out select
Subdivide survey /
  • What is the function of..?
  • What’s fact? Opinion?
  • What assumptions…?
  • What statement is relevant?
  • What motive is there?
  • What is related to, not applicable to?
  • What conclusions?
  • What does the author believe?
  • What does the author assume?
  • Make a distinction
  • State the point of view of…
  • What is the premise?
  • What ideas apply?
  • What ideas justify the conclusion?
  • What’s the relationship between…?
  • The least essential statements are…
  • What’s the main idea? Theme?
  • Implicit in the statement is..
/
  • Models of thinking
  • Challenging assumptions
  • Retrospective analysis
  • Reflection through journaling
  • Debates
  • Discussions and other collaborating learning activities
  • Decision-making situations

Evaluate
According to some set of criteria and state why / Appraise judge
Criticize defend
compare /
  • What fallacies, consistencies, inconsistencies appear?
  • Which is more important, moral, better, logical, valid, appropriate?
  • Find the errors
/
  • Challenging assumptions
  • Journaling
  • Debates
  • Discussions and other collaborating learning activities
  • Decision-making situations

Create
Combine elements into a pattern not clearly there before / Choose combine
Compose construct
Create design
Develop do
Formulate hypot hesize
Invent make
Originate organize
Plan produce
Role play tell /
  • How would you test..?
  • Propose an alternative?
  • Solve the following
  • How else would you…?
  • State a rule
/
  • Modeling
  • Challenging assumptions
  • Reflection through journaling
  • Debates
  • Discussions and other collaborating learning activities
  • Design
  • Decision-making situations

Adapted from: Anderson, L. & Krathwohl., D.R. (2001). A Taxonomy for learning, teaching, and assessing.

Principles of Task Design

I (Input) + 1

This describes the materials, teacher speech, etc. used in the classroom. These sources of language should be one level above the current level of the students.

Practicing TL in meaningful context

This allows learners to use the TL within a task that has some connection to real-life within a real-world topic.

Higher Level Thinking Skills

This refers to skills that require learners to use the language to critique, evaluate and synthesize vs. rote memorization.

Observable outcome

This refers to the result or end product that learners come up with/create in completing a task; this can be in written or oral form.

Multiple outcomes possible

This refers to the possibility of accepting more than one form of answer/outcome for a given task.

What Makes Listening Difficult: Challenges for Learners

1. Non-repetition- Specific for non-participatory listening; discourse is heard only once in some cases

2. Colloquial Language -Idioms, slang, reduced forms (gotcha!), and shared cultural knowledge

3. Interaction-For participatory listening, requires negotiation of meaning, clarification, turn taking, ending the dialog

4. Redundancy-Rephrasing, repetition, elaboration, synonymous words

5. Clustering- Speech is broken down into smaller groups of words

6. Reduced forms - Phonological (djeetyet?), morphological (I’ll), pragmatical (Mom! Phone!)

7. Performance variables-Hesitations, false starts, pauses, fillers, and corrections

8. Rate of Delivery-Native speakers speak too fast! Pauses help comprehension

9. Stress, Rhythm and Intonation -Stress can change the meaning of the word (vary syllabic stress) or statement: He created a cheaper car. He created a cheaper car. Intonation can change the meaning – sarcasm, sympathy, endearment, disbelief

10. Listener’s background knowledge-Cultural interpretations, lexical knowledge, level of language proficiency, contextual knowledge and extent of knowledge, cognitive ability

11. Distractors - Background noises, dialects

12. Length - Longer passages require more listening “stamina”

Adapted from: Brown (2001). Teaching by principles: An interactive approach

to language pedagogy and Brandl, K. (2008), Communicative language teaching

in action.
Language Skill Level Descriptions - Listening

Level 0+

Survival mode / word level

-very limited number of utterances and formulas in areas of immediate needs that are

  • usually memorized by the listener

-very short utterances

-lists or loosely connected groups of words rather than complete sentences

-texts that are strongly supported by context

-situation of event rather than the text itself guides the listener

-utterances with frequent long pauses

-made by people who are used to speaking with non-native speakers

Level 1

Orientational mode / Main ideas / Simple sentence level

-utterances about basic survival needs on very familiar topics such as meals, lodging, transportation, time and simple directions

-focus on here and now, usually the present tense

-greetings and farewells, pro forma information, schedules, data on arrivals and departures, program announcements

-discrete, simple questions and answers, simple statements and very simple conversations in a standard dialect

-information is not tightly packed

-main ideas, not details

-even simple sentences must often be delivered more clearly than normal, at a rate slower than normal (that is, by a native used to dealing with foreigners)

Level 2

Instructive mode / Main ideas and supporting facts / paragraph level

-information transfer

-factual content

-conversations on routine social demands and limited job requirements

-everyday topics, common personal and family news, well-known current events and routine office matters

-descriptions and narration about current, past and future events

-vocabulary is more topic-specific

-utterances in standard dialect delivered at a normal rate

-utterances by a native speaker not used to dealing with foreigners

-some degree of target language culture background

-some texts contain densely packed information (e.g., news reports)

-essential points of discussion or speech at an elementary level on topics in the listener’s special professional field

-utterances containing only occasional words and phrases of statements made in unfavorable conditions, for example through loudspeakers

-texts can be up to three minutes long

Level 3

Evaluative mode / details and inferences

-all types of speech in a standard dialect including technical discussions within a

special field

-general factual and abstract topics and areas of special interest

-reasonably clear telephone calls, radio broadcasts, news stories similar to wire service

reports, oral reports, some oral technical reports and public addresses on non- technical subjects

-texts with author-intended inference, hypothesizing and supported opinions

-texts requiring evaluation

-texts with emotional overtones and stylistic nuances

-conversations between educated native speakers

-speech, delivered with normal clarity and speed in a standard dialect

Adapted from Introduction to the Interagency Language Roundtable Skill Level Descriptions accessed 4 August 2006 and James Child’s Text Modes compared to Proficiency Levels

Listening Tasks for Non-Participatory Listening

Pre-Listening

Overview and Rationale: Designing tasks for the “Pre-Listening” phase prepares students for what they are going to hear and possibly view. These activities set up students’ expectations, activate schemata, build lexical knowledge, assess students’ background knowledge of the topic, and the purpose for listening. Pre-listening phase can be used as an opportunity to motivate students and recruit their interest in the listening text. For non-participatory listening, there is no engagement with the speaker; thus tasks must be designed using audio/video based resources.

Purpose / Sample Activities
Predict general content of the text /
  • Describe a picture related to the text
  • Brainstorm connections between several pictures or screenshots
  • Watch a video scene in silent mode before watching it with the audio on. Predict what you might hear.
  • Generate a list of questions based on the topic (if your listening text is an interview, e.g., questions relating to a job interview)
  • Tell what you think will happen in the listening text
  • Prepare questions, multiple choice items for students to answer based on their own knowledge. Compare answers with information from listening text

Predict the main idea /
  • Post three main idea statements. Students decide which one best describes the listening passage
  • K-W-L: students first write what they know about the topic and share information; students then write what they want to know about the topic; after listening students write what they learned about the topic

Build Vocabulary
Build Vocabulary (contd.) /
  • Match key words with definitions or images
  • Brainstorm vocabulary related to the topic
  • Complete a vocabulary log
Column 1 – vocabulary word or expression
Column 2 – what you think or know the word means
Column 3 – a picture or association word to help
you remember (this is called a mnemonic device)
Column 4 – complete after listening using the word
in context from what was heard
  • Cluster a group of words by category

  • Complete a cloze exercise (fill in the blanks of a partial transcript with words missing). Use words from a word bank. Check after listening and correct any errors
  • Round Table Label: Label a picture related to the listening text (good group activity – each person in the group takes a turn labeling one picture until all are labeled)
  • Scrambled words: students are given a list of scrambled words related to the topic. Students unscramble the words and separate the known from the unknown
  • Brainstorm vocabulary related to the picture (can be done in groups and involve competition). After listening, go back to your list and see how much you were able to guess.

Activate prior knowledge /
  • Write questions you have about a picture or screenshots
  • Complete a graphic organizer with vocabulary related to the topic
  • Complete a prediction chart with information you think you might learn from listening
  • Think-pair-share: First think about the topic and what you know; Pair with someone to discuss your ideas; share ideas with the group

Create a context for listening (Top down processing) /
  • Read a text on the same topic
  • View a picture related to the passage and ask students what they know

Resources: Brandl, K. (2008). Communicative language teaching in action: Putting principles to work,Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.

Lesson Plan Design / Template

Here are some considerations when designing a communicative, task-based listening lesson and a template to follow.

Topic
Objective (s)
Students will be able to ______(start with a verb)
Listening input / Purpose for listening
1. Type: (Interview, radio news, video, etc.)
______
2. ILR Level (0-2+): ______
3. Authentic or Simulated: ______/ Some suggestions: main idea, factual information, gist, specific details, key words, speaker’s purpose
Pre Listening
Consider – schemata, link to background knowledge, vocabulary, key words, predicting
Listening
Consider – note taking, noticing, main idea, details, purpose, listening for meaning
Post Listening (observable outcome)
Consider – ways to check listening comprehension and application to real world task

Listening Tasks for Non-Participatory Listening

Overview and Rationale: Designing tasks for the “During Listening” phase focus on the listening situation, the purpose of listening, what the listeners are to do with information, how tasks are sequenced and scaffolded, and how the input is presented (multiple times, just one listening, with introductions etc); in other words, how learners will make sense of what is said . For non-participatory listening, there is no engagement with the speaker; thus tasks must be designed using audio/video based resources.

Purpose / Sample Activities
Summarize or gist / Shadow Dictation
Pair students and assign one student to be “listener” and the other “writer”. Seat them back to back. As they listen to a dictation or audio clip, the writer takes notes and the listener just listens. When the listening is complete, listener and writer compare what they heard and reconstruct the text. When finished, replay or reread text to check accuracy
Dictogloss
Students listen to a listening passage in “chunks” and reconstruct the text, collaborating with a partner or group members (see for a template and in depth activity description)
Note: for non-participatory listening, use an audio clip so there is no possible interaction
1. Select a listening text and divide into listening chunks (explain to students their purpose is to reconstruct what they hear)
2. Teacher reads aloud entire text or plays listening passage in its entirety (students concentrate on content and flow)
3. Read the first chunk of text or play the first part of listening passage (students now take notes after listening, recording important details and anything they think important to reconstruct text)
4. Read or play the first chunk again (students alter or add to notes)
5. Students work in groups to share notes and reconstruct the text
6. Repeat for each “chunk”
7. Once students have reconstructed the entire text, reread or replay
Note: Select one short passage for lower proficiency level students
Picture Dictation
Students draw what they hear (repeat listening passage two or three times to scaffold
Follow directions /
  • Follow audio directions to trace a route on a map and locate the point of destination
  • Listen to directions to an apartment complex and note the location on a city map

Distinguish word boundaries (for low level students) / Word Boundaries
Students are given sentences from the audio text without spaces between words. As they listen, they mark word boundaries
Goodteachingisonefourthofpreparationandthreefourthspuretheater = Good teaching is one fourth of preparation and three fourths pure theater. (Gail Godwin))
Learn letters and sounds in meaningful context (for low level students) / Abbreviation dictation: match abbreviations of countries or famous organizations with pictures representing these organizations, e.g.
UN  U.S.
Sequence information / How to Use …….
Students listen to a conversation and label a drawing to show the steps in how to use (an ATM, online banking, using a phone card)
What Did They Say?
Listen to a partial conversation and predict the outcome of the conversation
Number the events
Students are given a list of events in non sequential order. As they listen, they number each event in chronological order (1,2,3 etc.)
Listen with Visuals /
  • Students listen to a set of instructions and match what they hear to the correct visual representation (Example: pictures of aerobic exercises)
  • Students label screen shots with captions

Complete graphs and charts /
  • Students complete graphic organizers with EEI information (who, what, where, when, why)
  • Students listen to an airport announcement and locate the terminal on an airport map

Check off items on a list /
  • While listening, students check off words and phrases they hear from a list
  • Students are given a list of possible details in an audio text. They cross out those details that they do not hear

Search for specific clues to meaning /
  • Give students a list of focus questions asking for specific details (use as an info gap activity – each student gets two questions, then shares information after listening)
  • Create a cloze exercise from the listening transcript, leaving similar linguistic elements blank (all verbs, key vocabulary words, prepositions, gender identifiers etc.)

Distinguish between formal and informal language /
  • Use a T-chart to list formal/informal expressions while listening
  • Give students a list of informal expressions – listen for “formal” ways of expressing the same meaning in the audio text

Listening Discrimination /
  • Listen to each sentence and circle the verb you hear
  • (e.g. expecting/is expecting/are expecting)

Adapted from: